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This is a list of notable people, whether contemporary, historical or legendary, who are or were involved in any of the following practices and traditions:
- paranormal or supernatural magic, 'black' or 'white'
- witchcraft
- sorcery
- wizardry
- astrology
- alchemy
- practical mysticism
- voodoo
- divination and fortune-telling
- theurgy
Since this subject has attracted hoaxes, folklore, and tall tales, the inclusion of historical persons is limited based on considerations of accepted historical fact - a restriction which obviously does not apply to legendary or mythological figures.
For a list of sleight of hand artists and practitioners of stage magic, see: List of magicians.
Famous magicians
Some historical or legendary magicians, wizards, witches, or people who have been claimed to be so, are:
Classical mythology
- Cassandra, oracle
- Circe, legendary sorceress
- Hecate, goddess of witchcraft
- Medea, legendary sorceress
- Semiramis, semi-legendary queen and sorceress
Ancient world
- Apollonius of Tyana, wizard
- Apuleius, author of a magical novel
- Elymas, Jewish magus who opposed Paul on Cyprus
- Gyges of Lydia, king said to possess magical artifacts
- Heraclitus, philosopher important in occultism
- Hermes Trismegistus/Thoth
- Iamblichus, neo-platonist philosopher, espoused theurgy
- Iannes and Mambres, magicians at Pharaoh's court mentioned in the New Testament
- Julian, practiced occult theurgy
- Plato, philosopher important in occultism
- Plotinus, neo-platonist philosopher important in occultism
- Pythagoras, philosopher important in occultism
- Simon Magus, magician mentioned in New Testament
- Virgil, subjected to magical legends
- The Witch of Endor, Biblical witch and spirit medium
- Zhang Jiao, leader of the Yellow Turban Rebellion
- Zhuge Liang, advisor to Liu Bei during the Three Kingdoms period
Mediæval Europe
- Abraham Abulafia, kabalist "messiah"
- Albertus Magnus, had many magical texts attributed to him
- Gilles de Rais, serial killer accused of sorcery
- Merlin, (probably fictional) Arthurian wizard
- Morgan le Fay, witch sister of King Arthur
- Nicholas Flamel, alchemist
- Ramon Llull, syncretic mystic
- Roger Bacon, philosopher accused of magic
Renaissance
- Abramelin the Mage, alleged author of a grimoire
- Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, occult philosopher, astrologer
- Olaus Borrichius, alchemist
- Sir Thomas Browne, hermetic author
- Giordano Bruno, occult philosopher
- Benevenuto Cellini, sculptor whose diary relates experience summoning spirits
- Christina of Sweden, abdicated Queen who dabbled in alchemy
- Arthur Dee, hermetic author, and son of John Dee
- John Dee, Queen Elizabeth's court astrologist.
- Gerhard Dorn, Belgian follower of Paracelsus
- Faust, made a pact with the Devil, also see Doctor Faustus
- Robert Fludd, occult philosopher and astrologer
- Edward Kelley, medium who assisted John Dee
- Athanasius Kircher, Jesuit priest, wrote on magical subjects
- John Lambe, astrologer to George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
- Nostradamus, soothsayer, seer, astrologer
- Paracelsus, medical pioneer and occult philosopher
- Henry Percy, "Wizard Earl"
- Sir Walter Raleigh, practiced alchemy
- Johannes Reuchlin, German cabalist magician, summoned angels
- Rudolph II, Holy Roman Emperor, employed alchemists
- Johannes Trithemius, cryptographer and magical writer
- Johann Weyer (aka Johannes Wierus), German physician, occultist and demonologist
Enlightenment and early modern period
- Ulrica Arfvidsson, politically influential Swedish fortune-teller.
- Giuseppe Balsamo, "Count Alessandro di Cagliostro," occult charlatan
- Antoine Court de Gebelin, connected tarot and esotericism
- Etteilla, fortune-teller
- Isobel Gowdie, self-confessed witch
- Matthew Hopkins, commissioned English witch-finder
- Margaret Matson, New Sweden (colony) witch
- Françoise Athenaïs Rochechouart, marquise de Montespan, royal mistress
- Sir Isaac Newton, physicist and alchemist
- Count of St Germain, alchemist
- Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin, founder of Martinism, writer known as the Unknown Philosopher
- Emanuel Swedenborg, alchemist, founder of Swedenborgianism
- "La Voisin", French sorceress
- Adam Weishaupt, founder of the Illuminati
Nineteenth century
- Evangeline Adams, astrologer to the famous
- Francis Barrett, wrote a book on magic
- Alexis-Vincent-Charles Berbiguier de Terre-Neuve du Thym, French demonologist
- Algernon Blackwood, member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
- William Blake, poet of the occult
- Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, founder of Theosophy
- Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton, author of several occult novels
- Constant Chevillon, the head of FUDOFSI
- Robert Felkin, medical missionary and explorer, member of Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and Stella Matutina, author on Africa and medicine
- Henri Gamache, authority on the Evil Eye
- A. Frank Glahn
- Rudolf John Gorsleben
- Stanislas de Guaita, occult author
- John George Hohman, American wizard
- Allan Kardec, founder of Spiritism
- William Lyon MacKenzie King, Prime Minister of Canada
- Siegfried Adolf Kummer
- Marie Laveau, American voodoo practitioner
- Marie Anne Lenormand, fortune-teller favoured by Joséphine de Beauharnais
- Eliphas Lévi, occult author
- Harvey Spencer Lewis, founder of AMORC
- Ralph Maxwell Lewis, Imperator of AMORC
- Guido von List
- Arthur Machen, member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
- Friedrich Bernhard Marby
- Samuel L. MacGregor Mathers, founder of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
- Evan Morgan, poet and aristocrat Lord Tredegar
- Papus, pseudonym for Gérard Encausse, occult author
- Carl Reichenbach
- Theodor Reuss
- Arthur Rimbaud, visionary poet, adventurer
- Pamela Colman Smith, Golden Dawn member, artist, did tarot deck
- Ludwig Straniak
- August Strindberg, dramatist, alchemist
- Arthur Edward Waite, occult author and member of Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
- Dr. William Wynn Westcott, cofounder of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
- Hellmut Wolff
- William Butler Yeats, poet, Golden Dawn member, astrologer
Twentieth century
- Margot Adler, witch and NPR reporter
- Mirra Alfassa - studied occultism under the Theons, became Sri Aurobindo's spiritual co-worker (The Mother)
- Kenneth Anger, filmmaker, author, disciple of Crowley
- Antonin Artaud, poet, visionary, theorist of the theater
- Sri Aurobindo, formulated Integral Yoga
- Alice Bailey, author of The Treatise on White Magic
- Fairuza Balk, actress
- Franz Bardon, occult author, magician
- Christian Bernard, Imperator of AMORC
- Michael Bertiaux, Hierophant of OTOA
- Draconis Blackthorne, occult author, Satanist
- Ior Bock, Finnish cult leader
- Isaac Bonewits, occult author
- Zsuzsanna Budapest, feminist witch
- William S. Burroughs, member of the Illuminates of Thanateros
- Raymond Buckland, Wiccan author
- W. E. Butler, occultist and esoteric author
- Peter J. Carroll, occult author, co-founder of the Illuminates of Thanateros
- Edgar Cayce
- Andrew D. Chumbley, occult artist and author. Magister of the Cultus Sabbatai
- Chic Cicero, occult author, co-founder of modern Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Inc.
- Tabatha Cicero, occult author, co-founder of modern Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Inc.
- Aleister Crowley, occult author, poet, magician, astrologer
- Maya Deren, filmmaker
- Ramsey Dukes, occult author
- Gerina Dunwich, witch and occult author
- Lon Milo Duquette, occult author, humorist, OTO member
- Julius Evola, occult author
- Philip H. Farber, occult author
- Dion Fortune, occult author
- Gerald Gardner, founder of Wicca
- Kenneth Grant, Occult author and Outer Head of the Typhonian OTO
- Robert Graves, poet and mythographer
- William G. Gray, occult author and founder of the Sangreal Sodality
- Allen H. Greenfield, occult author and UFOlogist
- Rene Guenon
- Jaq D. Hawkins, occult author
- Max Heindel, author of The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception
- Heinrich Himmler, Nazi occultist
- Phil Hine, occult author
- L. Ron Hubbard, originator of Scientology
- Alejandro Jodorowsky, filmmaker, comic book writer
- Robert Johnson, allegedly sold soul to Devil for musical talent
- Thomas Karlsson, founder of Dragon Rouge, musician and author
- Stephen Kasner, artist and musician
- Gareth Knight, occult author
- Donald Michael Kraig, occult author
- Gopi Krishna, experienced spontaneous permanent awakening of kundalini
- Anton Szandor LaVey, Founder of The Church of Satan, occult author
- C.W. Leadbeater, Theosophist and clairvoyant, wrote most popular book about the chakras
- Timothy Leary, member of the Illuminates of Thanateros; formulated the eight circuit model of consciousness
- Sybil Leek, witch and occult author
- Jordan Maxwell, occult author and researcher
- Alan Moore, occultist and comic-book creator
- Grant Morrison, chaos magician and comic-book creator
- Genesis P-Orridge, artist, founder of Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth
- Jack Parsons, occultist and rocket scientist
- Israel Regardie, occult Author, magician, pupil of Crowley
- Boyd Rice, occult musician etc.
- Mouni Sadhu, occult author and mystic
- Denny Sargent, occult author
- Ray Sherwin, occult author, co-founder of the Illuminates of Thanateros
- Austin Osman Spare, occult artist
- Karl Spiesberger
- Robin Spriggs, author, actor, occultist, Magus Magnus of The House of Nine
- Meredith Starr, editorial writer for The Occult Review and The Equinox
- Rudolf Steiner, founder of anthroposophy
- Gary L. Stewart, founder of Confraternity of the Rose Cross, past Imperator of AMORC
- R J Stewart, author and musician
- Ralph Tegtmeier, member of the Fraternitas Saturni
- Max Theon - the Cosmic Tradition
- Alma Theon - Max's wife and co-worker, a clairvoyant
- William Irwin Thompson, cultural historian
- Sam Webster, occultist and writer
- Samael Aun Weor, occult author, founder of the Gnostic Institute of Anthropology, Inc.
- Dennis Wheatley, author of several occult novels
- Robert Anton Wilson, occultist and author
Alleged Occultists
These people may or may not have been practicing magicians, mystics, or diviners, but later stories or folklore have arisen that link them to such practices:
- Albertus Magnus, Roman Catholic writer dubiously credited with several magical texts, notably the Book of the Secrets of Albertus Magnus
- Francis Bacon, philosopher accused of magic
- Roger Bacon, medieval monk and Alchemist
- Livingstone Bramble, world champion boxer, suspected of practicing witchcraft before fights
- Doctor Faustus, made a pact with the Devil
- Gyges of Lydia, credited by Plato with ownership of the Ring of Gyges, a magical artifact
- Pope Honorius III, dubiously credited with the grimoire The Sworn Book of Honorius
- Jesus, although repudiated by later church fathers, the Gospel of Judas portrays him as having taught Gnostic mysteries to Judas alone of the disciples.
- Merlin, originally the Welsh poet Myrddin, who was turned into a wizard in medieval romance
- Moses, miracle worker, dubiously credited with the grimoires The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses
- Pythagoras, philosopher important in occultism
- Count of St Germain, during the centuries after his disappearance without a trace, numerous myths, legends and speculations have surfaced; he has been attributed with occult practices and other legends report that he was immortal, alchemist with the elixir of life, a true Rosicrucian ("A man who knows everything and who never dies" according to Voltaire)
- William Shakespeare, known among occult circles as "The Rosicrucian Mask" (influenced by the same Rosicrucian Initiate as Francis Bacon)
- King Solomon of Israel, falsly credited with the grimoires The Key of Solomon and The Lemegeton, or the Lesser Key of Solomon
- Taliesin, Welsh poet who was turned into a wizard in medieval folklore
- Virgil, Latin poet who was turned into a wizard in medieval folklore
- Olaus Wormius, incorporated into H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos as the supposed translator of the Necronomicon
See also
- List of astrologers
- List of occult writers
- List of spirituality-related topics
- List of magicians in fantasy